Drug suspicions over Essendon grow

Richard Baker, Jake Niall and John Silvester

Concerns that Essendon players were given a banned performance-enhancing drug have strengthened with the emergence of an invoice showing the club was billed for a "Thymosin peptide".

The invoice provides a paper trail between the club and the possible provision to players of Thymosin beta 4, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since at least 2011 for its performance-enhancing effect and viewed more seriously than the failed anti-obesity drug AOD9604.

Fairfax Media understands that Essendon players have been unable to explain to anti-doping investigators whether the club's 2012 supplements program involved Thymosin beta 4, popular with body builders because it aids muscle recovery, or a benign version, known as Thymosin alpha, used to treat AIDS and cancer patients and deemed by WADA not to have any performance-enhancing effect.

Shane Charter. Photo: Wayne Taylor

It is understood that player testimony on the issue of Thymosin has been vague, with players unable to specify which type of the drug was taken.

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Since Fairfax Media first approached Essendon in April about the possible use of Thymosin beta 4, the club has maintained its belief that only the WADA-safe Thymosin alpha was used.

However, sources with a knowledge of the progress of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation believe there is a strong circumstantial case mounting to suggest the "Thymosin peptide" referred to in the Essendon invoice was beta 4.

Stephen Dank.

January 2012 emails between Essendon's former sports scientist, Stephen Dank, and biochemist Shane Charter show the pair discussing the provision and best use of Thymosin beta 4. The emails do not refer to Essendon.

One email shows Mr Charter, who has become a key ASADA witness, advising Mr Dank to inject the drug on a weekly basis over six weeks and then once a month to get the "best results".

This advice is repeated in consent forms given by Mr Dank to Essendon players during 2012 for the injection of a substance referred to in the forms simply as "Thymosin".

"The recommendation for the following intervention for you: 1 Thymosin injection once a week for six weeks and then 1 injection per month," the consent form states.

A Thymosin consent form obtained by Fairfax Media was signed by Mr Dank and witnessed by suspended fitness chief Dean Robinson. The form was not signed by club doctor Bruce Reid.

Players believed that the Thymosin injections had been approved by the club doctor. Serious doubts have emerged whether this was the case.

In April, Mr Dank told Fairfax Media in an interview that Thymosin beta 4 had been part of his program at Essendon. However, when informed of the club's denial, he said he could not recall which type he had given players.

In terms of possible sanctions against players, Thymosin beta 4 poses far greater risk than AOD9604, which Essendon skipper Jobe Watson last month said he believed he had received.

This is because Thymosin beta 4 falls under WADA's S2 category for performance-enhancing drugs. AOD9604 is banned under WADA's less serious SO category, which covers drugs that may not be performance-enhancing but are not approved for human use.

Mr Dank, who has refused to be interviewed by ASADA, has maintained the substances he gave to players were always safe and did not breach anti-doping rules.

Mr Charter said on Thursday that he provided Mr Dank with Thymosin beta 4 in January 2012. He said the peptide was imported from China along with other supplements ordered by Mr Dank.

"It is a legal product but clearly a banned substance for professional athletes," Mr Charter said. "I would assume that Dank would have known that."

He said that in January 2012 Mr Dank had asked for the peptide to be made up into usable doses at a South Yarra compound chemist.

"He didn't identify the clients who would be using the product," Mr Charter said.

"At no stage did Dank order Thymosin, only Thymosin beta 4. He may have sourced it from somewhere else but the question remains: what happened to the beta 4? Thymosin is not routinely used by professional athletes but it can have some immune system benefits."

Mr Charter said ASADA had asked him a series of questions about the beta 4 product sold to Mr Dank, concentrating on whether the number of doses equated with the course of injections given to Essendon players.

The AFL said in a statement late on Thursday: "This is a complex and methodical investigation and the AFL will not comment on its progress until ASADA hands over its report next month."